joining me now, republican strategist and former white house aide to president george h.w. bush, joe watkins, jason johnson, and editor of citizens politics and contributor for "the daily beast," patricia murphy. hello to all three of you. >> hello. >> i'm going to reach out to you first, joe, since you're all by yourself. let's talk about republican ted cruz of texas. even after the 40 previous attempts have failed, rather, to appeal that law. let's take a listen to listen t said. >> there is no more important regulatory reform that we can do than repeal every single word of obamacare. and that reaction right there shows how we win this fight. >> joe, you're a republican. are you at all tired of your party's focus on repealing obamacare instead of working to pass a budget or immigration reform for the american people? they tried to do this 40 times and failed. >> of course, this is an issue that touches on fiscal matters. and spending, of course, and how do we spend our money more wisely, and how do we provide americans for the health care they deserve without enforcing up